Solid-state memory, such as flash, is currently in use in solid-state drives (SSD) to augment or replace conventional hard disk drives (HDD), writable CD (compact disk) or writable DVD (digital versatile disk) drives, collectively known as spinning media, and tape drives, for storage of large amounts of data. Flash and other solid-state memories have characteristics that differ from spinning media. Yet, many solid-state drives are designed to conform to hard disk drive standards for compatibility reasons, which makes it difficult to provide enhanced features or take advantage of unique aspects of flash and other solid-state memory. Errors can result from a read failure, or a failure of a component or a subsystem, and a solid-state drive can lose data and/or functionality. Downtime of a system, while a solid-state drive is replaced or repaired, is disruptive, as is data loss.
It is within this context that the embodiments arise.